We drove through Pisco as the sun was rising. My first impression was that of an untidy place filled with dust, rubble and, for some reason, tents. It took my sleepy brain some time to work out that I was not looking at a town with backpackers setting up camp in unlikely places but a town that was hit by a 7.8 earthquake less than a month ago. Everything started to make sense, tents set up on the floors of what used to be houses, rubble heaps every where and people queuing for water at five in the morning.
Our destination Ica was clearly also damaged by the earthquake, a dusty dessert town has been transformed into an extremely dusty desert town, but our final destination was not Ica and we took a bus to Nasca, 2 hours further south.
Here, in the middle of the desert, we found the most incredible camping spot. A big green lawn covered with shade from the tall pine trees surrounding it. To top it all there was about fifteen hammocks for both of us and the smell of Spring in the air. This was even better than a spot right on the beach.
The reason for our visit to Nasca was, of course, the Nasca Lines. These mysterious lines drawn in the desert sand was made by the pre-Inka Nasca people. They were only rediscovered in the 1930´s when commercial planes started flying over the area and the pilots noticed the strange designs in the desert. The lines and geometrical shapes are made on such a big scale that it is almost impossible to see them when on the ground.
These lines have fascinated scientists since their discovery and, as a friendly taxi driver summed it up there are three main theories to explain their purpose. The first one, strongly supported by the taxi driver, is that of Von Daniken, according to him the lines, and more specifically, geometrical patterns are landing strips for alien spaceships. I have to admit that it was this theory that got me interested in the lines in the first place, but I have outgrown that since our UFO-watching Club in high school failed to deliver any sightings.
The second theory is that the lines, together with the animal patterns are some sort of astronomical calender. There is however very little evidence to support this. My favorite theory is that it was made during water rituals and that the animal patterns was used for shamanic rituals and flights. (I find this topic very interesting and go on talking about it, but since not every one might find it all that interesting the ones who does can read more about the lines here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/1999/nasca_script.shtml)
To see these lines properly we had to take a flight in a very small Cesna plane. We decided not to eat before the flight since it was bound to be bumpy, but when our flight turned out to be 2 hours later than expected I decided that one orange couldn´t do much harm. I was very wrong, I left the plane with that exact same orange in a little bag. Very embarrassing! But except for the orange the flight was incredible and it was a dream come true to finally see the lines.
The rest of our time in Nasca was spend at our great camping spot enjoying Cuba Libres, Caiperinas, and not so successful Vodka with Fanta Orange.
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